In prior art business communication switching systems (also referred to as PBXs), an unattended meet-me-conference call can be set up between a plurality of telephone station sets by each of the station sets calling a conferencing bridge within the PBX that had been previously reserved. To set up the conference, the user of each station set dials a unique telephone number of the conferencing bridge. The conferencing bridge is responsive to each incoming call to add that call to the conference.
Within the AT&T Long Distance Telephone Network, a teleconferencing service known as the Alliance Dedicated Teleconferencing Service is available. The Alliance service comprises a teleconferencing bridge connected to a 4ESS toll switch. The Alliance service allows unattended meet-me-conference calls to be established if a reservation has been obtained in advance for such a conference call.
The problem with the conferencing bridges is that reservations must be made well in advance of the conference through an administrator. In addition, there have been many occurrences where unattended parties have gained access to the conference via the conference bridge. This occurs when the telephone number of the bridge has leaked out to the general public and "hackers" have found ways to break in on the conference. Of these two problems, the problem of having to reserve the bridge in advance is the most bothersome. In addition, the cost of arranging reservations on a PBX is added to the overall cost of operating the PBX.